


Doctor's Appointments

by storm_8



Series: Joys of Motherhood [47]
Category: Women's Murder Club (TV)
Genre: F/F, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-24
Updated: 2013-06-24
Packaged: 2017-12-16 01:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/856160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storm_8/pseuds/storm_8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Doctor's Appointments... or more accurately, 'How Ashley Boxer Always Makes Pregnant Women Swoon'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Doctor's Appointment: Cindy

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own the show or its characters. I merely borrow them for everyone's enjoyment.  
> I do own the original characters: I am quite fond of them!  
> All mistakes are mine.
> 
> Written for the WMC Day 2011.

Cindy had been leafing through a magazine when she felt a small hand land on her distended belly. She glanced down and watched an impossibly big smile grow on her barely two year old daughter’s face when there was an answering flutter under her hand.

“Mama, you feel?” The little girl asked, brown eyes alight with wonder.

The reporter chuckled, running a hand through her daughter’s hair. “Yes, Ash, I felt that too.”

The brunette grinned and moved her hand to a different position, receiving another answering flutter. She giggled in delight.

Cindy shook her head in amusement. Ever since the baby had started kicking, Ashley couldn’t sit still for a full five minutes before her tiny hands were back on her mother’s belly. She would draw random patterns and tap her fingers until she got a response from her soon to be younger sibling.

And then she had demanded to know whether it was going to be a little sister or a little brother, pouting and whining when her mothers had told her they wanted it to be a surprise. So she made more demands and pouted and cried some more until the two women relented and it was agreed they would ask Cindy’s doctor on her next appointment.

An appointment, one Inspector Boxer was running late to.

******

 

_Half an hour before…_

 

Lindsay, Kayla and four other police officers walked towards the coffee stand by the park’s entrance, eyes fixed on their suspect and hands resting on their weapons.

“Rodney Parsons?” The brunette asked, stopping just a few feet from the man getting his coffee. He swivelled around, eyes widening at the six officers closing in on him. “You’re coming with us. We’d like to have a little chat about Casey Taylor… Know her?” Lindsay smirked and raised a questioning eyebrow.

A smirk that was soon replaced by a scowl, when the man threw his hot coffee at the two officers nearest to him and ran off, knocking down an elderly woman as he went.

“Mitchell!” Kayla barked, as her partner ran off in pursuit of their suspect “You stay here! Make sure the woman is alright. Montoya, after him!” The woman didn’t even need the prompting, having already sprinted after Lindsay.

Receiving a hasty nod from officer Mitchell and a ‘Go, we’re okay!’ from the other two officers covered in the hot coffee, she ran off as well.

“Rodney!! Stop!!” Lindsay yelled, weaving in and out of the crowd, trying not to lose sight of the suspect.

“Police! Out of the way!!” She heard officer Montoya yell a few steps behind her.

They both let out a curse when the man made a hard turn onto the street and ran against the oncoming traffic. There was a lot of screeching tires, as several cars swivelled in order to avoid the suspect, and at least two crashes.

Kayla caught up to them just as officer Montoya slid over the hood of a car and raced to one of the crashed vehicles, yanking the driver’s door open. She then turned to Lindsay, who’d stopped as well, frustration evident in her posture, as she debated whether to stay and help or keep chasing after their still fleeing suspect. “Go! I’ve got this!” She yelled, helping a woman out of her car.

The inspector turned on her heel, Kayla running past her muttering all kinds of obscenities under her breath.

People jumped out of their way and they managed to catch up to their suspect again. The man noticed this and made a last desperate attempt at escape, bursting through the doors of a hotel and heading for the pool area.

The two women quickly followed. “Rodney! Stop!!” Lindsay yelled again as the man disappeared into the rather large crowd surrounding the swimming pool.

“God damn it! Where’d he go?” Kayla stopped next to her partner, craning her neck to look into the throng of people.

The brunette growled. “Okay people, out of the way!” She shouldered her way into the crowd, motioning for her partner that she would go left and that the other woman should go right.

They moved cautiously, senses on high alert.

Before three full minutes had passed, Lindsay was already starting to lose her patience. She glanced worriedly at her watch, noting with some alarm that Cindy’s appointment was scheduled in twenty minutes.

The brunette looked frantically around. “Son of bitch is gonna make me late…”

And then she spotted him following her partner.

“Kayla!! Behind you!!” The taller woman yelled, just as the man lunged forward knocking into another man, sending him careening into a waitress, who dropped her tray and sent her and five other people, including the other inspector, into the swimming pool.

Lindsay had just about had enough of this chase. She pushed forward, getting some yelled complaints from unhappy patrons, and cut across the small bridge built over the pool.

Rodney Parsons barely had time to straighten himself up, before he was being tackled into the pool by an enraged brunette inspector. He came back up, sputtering water, only to have one of his arms grabbed by Kayla.

He swivelled around, right fist connecting with the woman’s jaw, forcing her to let him go. He then tried doing the same to Lindsay, but the brunette dodged the flying fist and retaliated with a punch of her own, sending Rodney back into the water. She dove right after him and less than thirty seconds later came back up, with the suspect in cuffs.

Kayla, holding a hand to her bleeding mouth, raised an eyebrow, impressed. “Ya know, I didn’t fully believe Jacobi when he said you’d once handcuffed a suspect under water… I sure believe him now.”

The inspector growled, shoving the suspect out of the pool and then turned to grin at the other woman, who laughed and followed her out.

******

 

Lindsay wrapped the blanket tighter around herself; it was too damn cold to be outside in wet clothes. She glanced at her watch impatiently. “Come on, Jill. Where are you? I’m freezing here and Cindy is gonna kill me for being late…” She mumbled under her breath, glaring at the EMT who gave her an odd look “What?!”

“I hear you cuffed the suspect under water?” Jacobi asked merrily, giving her a friendly slap on the back.

“I can confirm that.” Kayla added, sitting down next to her partner on the back of the ambulance, wrapping the EMT’s offered blanket around her shoulders.

The brunette glared at her ex-partner-recently-promoted-to-cheeky-lieutenant and then turned to the other woman. “You okay?”

“Urgh, I’ll be fine.” She mumbled, wincing when the movement stretched her abused lip. “I foresee an abrupt decrease in kissing in my very near future…”

Both Lindsay and Jacobi chuckled. “Speaking of kissing, shouldn’t you be at Cindy’s doctor appointment?” The man inquired.

“I would, if it wasn’t for that stupid son of a bitch who decided it’d be a good idea to throw my partner into a swimming pool, forcing me to tackle _him_ into said swimming pool. I smell like bleach…” The woman replied snarkily, throwing a dirty look at the man sitting in a police cruiser. “Cindy’s gonna be mad at me, what with the mood swings she has…”

Kayla gave her a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

“No, she won’t.” Jill stated, appearing beside Jacobi. “Officer Montoya was looking for you…” she told him and he excused himself with a ‘Good job, ladies’ thrown over his shoulder.

“Here you go. And your car is just over there…” She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder and handed a duffel bag to her soaked friend. Lindsay took it gratefully, climbing into the back of the ambulance to change. “I also called Cindy on my way here. Told her what happened.”

The taller woman poked her head around the ambulance doors. “How mad is she? Nowadays I can never tell if something I do or say, will land me on the couch or not…”

Kayla chuckled; Jill just grinned. “Don’t worry. She is in a good mood today. It seems your daughter has captivated the hearts of several other expecting mothers, who now want their children to be as happily cute as her.”

Lindsay grinned like a total fool and disappeared back inside the ambulance to finish changing. The other two women laughed.

******

 

Cindy watched with increasing amusement as Ashley grinned up at the woman sitting in front of her and politely requested if she could feel her baby kick. The woman was all smiles, just like the other seven people in the waiting room, and motioned the child closer.

The girl’s eyes widened comically when she felt the rather strong kick against her small hand.

“He’s quite strong isn’t he?” The woman asked with a loving smile. The little girl nodded and then skipped to her mother’s side.

“How far along are you?” Cindy asked, as her daughter climbed back onto her lap.

The woman blew a strand of hair out of her face. “Oh, he’s just about to come out into the world. Doctor says she gives it two weeks, three tops.”

“Not your first child, is it? You seem far too relaxed…” Another woman joked.

The woman and her husband laughed. “No, not our first. There’s two boys waiting at my parents’ house for news on their little brother…” The man replied.

“Mama, I wand widdle bwother.” Ashley said, poking her mother on the arm.

All the women swooned at the child’s scrunched up nose.

Cindy smiled down at the girl “We’ll find out soon…”

“You don’t know yet? You must be six months along…” A woman to her right inquired.

“Almost six. And we wanted it to be a surprise, but this one _demanded_ , in no uncertain terms, to know if she was getting a little brother or sister.”

Ashley grinned widely, and all around there was more swooning and loving smiles. Cindy wished her lover were there, so she could see it all first hand. She was 150% sure that Lindsay would be smirking proudly to herself, her ego growing two sizes every few minutes.

“I don’t want to be rude…” A woman to her left started, leaning forward in her seat. “But she’s not your child, is she? I mean, biologically, because… well, you don’t seem to share any physical… similarities…” She finished, grinning sheepishly and rubbing the back of her neck.

The brunette sitting next to her rolled her eyes. “Really, Jules? That _is_ rude…”

“What? I was just curious…” The first woman defended.

Had it been any other day, Cindy would have agreed with the brunette and probably snapped back in an irritated fashion, but she had been in a very forgiving mood all day. “No, no. It’s okay. I get asked that more often than not…  She’s my-”

“Mommy!” Ashley exclaimed, interrupting her mother’s explanation, when she spotted her brunette mother walking in looking rather frazzled.

Lindsay sighed in relief when she saw her lover and daughter. “I’m sorry I’m late, but that idiot just wouldn’t stop running, and then caused two car accidents, plus shoving Kayla and a bunch of people into a swimming pool…” She rambled, quickly sauntering over to the reporter’s side and plopping down in the chair next to her.

“Mommy, yous lade.” Ashley pointed an accusing finger, causing everyone to laugh at her indignation.

The brunette reached for her and set her in her lap. “I know, I know. I’m sorry.” She smiled at the frowning child. “But you took care of your mama, right?”

The girl nodded and grinned proudly. “And da baby!” Cindy chuckled at the chorus of ‘awwws’.

Lindsay didn’t seem to notice and leaned over to kiss her lover. “You’re not mad, right?” She asked quietly, kissing the redhead again.

“No. I’m sure Jill passed on the good news of my non-existent ‘violent verbal diatribes’ today, as she so _lovingly_ puts it…”

The inspector smiled and kissed her once more, deepening the contact and lacing her free hand with her lover’s.

Cindy smiled as she pulled back. “And what was that for?”

“I love you.” Lindsay replied earnestly, pecking the redhead’s lips again and then sitting back in her chair.

“Hmmm… I love you too. But you taste like chlorine.” She grinned and sat back as well.

The brunette rolled her eyes for good measure, but chose not to respond. She then noticed all the people staring at them. “What?”

“Babies…” Ashley supplied with a grin and wrapped her small arms around her mother, causing a few more amused chuckles and another round of swooning.

“Your daughter has been charming everyone with her brown eyes and wide smiles…” Cindy offered. She then looked to her left. “And I’m sure you have the answer to your question…”

Lindsay raised a questioning eyebrow; she was lost.

Jules laughed. “Yes, sure. And may I just say the girl looks just like her mother. And you are hot together.”

“Oh my God! _Jules_!!” The brunette next to her screeched in embarrassment.

“ _What_?! I’m just stating a fact; nothing wrong with that…” The woman defended, throwing a friendly wink to Cindy, who snorted in amusement.

While the two women bickered, the inspector blinked in confusion. “I’m not sure I want to know the topic of conversation before I got here…”

******

 

“Ms. Thomas?” The nurse called five minutes later. Cindy looked up from her magazine. “The doctor is ready for you. So if you’ll follow me…”

The two women and Ashley (who waved and smiled at everyone in the waiting room from her mother’s arms) followed the nurse down a corridor and into a room.

“Doctor Anderson should be here shortly…” The nurse said, exiting the room when she received two nods.

Lindsay sat down on a stool, holding her daughter on her lap, the girl looking curiously around.

Two minutes later, the doctor walked in scanning the chart in her hands. “Well, Ms. Thomas, how are you this fine day?” She looked up, grinning at the redhead.

Doctor Lisa Anderson was a tall dark haired woman, quick witted and all around friendly with her patients, but she did have her favourites. One of them being Cindy Thomas and her…

“Inspector Boxer, how are you?” The doctor greeted, receiving two amused grins in return. “And, my, my, you must be little Ashley…” She smiled at the brunette child, tapping her small nose.

The girl giggled and grabbed the woman’s retreating finger. The doctor laughed at the child’s antics.

“She’s grown a lot hasn’t she?” The dark haired woman glanced at Lindsay, who looked fondly at her daughter.

“Too fast if you ask me.” The inspector replied with a sigh.

“And she’s been causing trouble and charming everyone who lays eyes on her…” Cindy stated from her perch on the exam table.

“Just like her mother, I’m sure.” The doctor offered with a wink, causing the reporter to chuckle at her lover’s wide smirk. “Anyways, let’s have a look at that baby, shall we?”

The redhead laid back, Lindsay getting up and moving to her side, setting their daughter next to her mother. “We’ve actually changed our minds about knowing the baby’s gender.” The inspector said. “Ashley here insists on knowing whether she’ll have a little sister or a little brother.”

The dark haired woman stopped fiddling with the equipment to look over at the grinning child. “Is that so? I bet you used those big brown eyes and killer smile to persuade your mothers, hmm?”

The little girl was running a hand over her mother’s bare stomach, giggling when she felt another flutter under her hand.

“And she’s been absolutely fascinated, now that the baby has started kicking.” Cindy commented with an amused roll of her eyes.

“I can see that.” The doctor chuckled, pulling on some latex gloves. “How long has the baby been kicking? Anything out of the ordinary, or just the normal cravings and mood swings?”

Lindsay snorted. “About a month, just shortly after her last appointment. And yes, to both cravings and mood swings… Especially the mood swings…” She added the last bit in a whisper.

The doctor chuckled, Cindy slapping her lover on the arm.

“Mama ead waffles… Loads…” Ashley supplied with a grin and arms spread wide.

“It’s not just your mama that eats all those waffles.” The brunette ruffled the girl’s short hair. “I’ve seen you eat them too…”

The girl giggled. “I wike waffles!”

The women all chuckled, the doctor spreading some gel over Cindy’s midsection and grabbing the sonogram.

“So, lets have a look at your baby…” She placed the device on the reporter’s belly and focused on the screen. Soon enough, the sound of a fast heartbeat filled the room, Ashley’s eyes widening as she looked at the monitor as well.

“Healthy little baby…” The doctor commented. “Strong heartbeat, little hand over here…” She pointed at the screen and then smiled, turning to the two year old child. “Come here…” She froze the image before hoisting the girl onto her lap. “So what do you think, Ashley? Little brother or little sister?”

The small brunette looked on in awe at the frozen picture, before scrunching up her brow in concentration. She couldn’t really tell anything apart in the image, but threw out a guess anyway. “Humm, widdle sis…?”

Lisa smiled and looked over at the two mothers. “Little sister indeed.”

“Really?” Lindsay asked, tone filled with wonder. “It’s a little girl? Wow…”

Cindy looked up at her lover, seeing the number of emotions flitting over her features. She laced their hands together and smiled at the taller woman.

The inspector looked down. “A little girl…” She smiled a happy, wide grin and leaned down, kissing the reporter softly. “There’s gonna be two of you…” She whispered as she pulled back to look her lover in the eyes.

The redhead laughed and pulled the other woman back down into another kiss.

The doctor remained quiet, giving the two women their moment, and looked at the child on her lap. “So, you’re going to be a big sister soon…”

Ashley looked up at her and grinned widely.


	2. Doctor's Appointment: Jill

_14 years later…_

 

Ashley looked over to her blonde aunt and grinned at the woman’s constant fidgeting. She then looked to Denise, sitting between her and Jill. “Has she been this fidgety all day, or something?”

“What do you think?” Was the reply, the woman not even looking up from the magazine she was reading.

Lily skipped to her aunt’s unoccupied side and threw her arms around her. “Aww, Auntie Jill, no need to be nervous! You’ll see… Soon you’ll know whether you’ll be having a troublemaking little boy, like my permanently grumpy sister over there…” She waved a hand in the brunette’s direction “Or a cute, lovable little girl like me!”

Ash raised an unamused eyebrow and stuck her tongue out at her younger sister, who merely grinned and replied in the same fashion.

Jill chuckled, patting the girl’s hand affectionately. “I’m okay… Just anxious…”

“Hey…” Denise put down her magazine and turned to her lover, taking a hand in hers “Everything’s going to be fine. This is our baby we’re talking about. So, everything is going to be just fine.” She stared hard into Jill’s eyes and then leaned forward to press a short kiss against her lips.

Lily blinked rather owlishly at the rare display of affection. She knew her aunts loved each other, but they rarely made any public displays of their feelings. She smiled and moved back to her sister’s side, laying her head on the older girl’s shoulder.

The blonde attorney sighed, leaning her forehead against Denise’s and keeping her eyes closed.

Ashley watched them with a slightly worried expression. They had all been there when it took three cycles for her aunt to get pregnant, only to miscarry after two months. In her eyes, Jill’s worrying and anxiousness was justified, but that didn’t make it any easier to witness. And she knew that her dark haired aunt had been just as devastated, regardless of the strong front she put up for Jill.

The brunette teen turned to her sister. “I think we should call-”

“Already did.” Lily replied. “Aunt Claire said she’d be here in about ten minutes…”

They shared thin smiles and looked back to their aunts. The two women we’re still in the same position, Jill’s eyes closed and Denise pressing tender kisses to her forehead, whispering a reassurance every now and then.

The moment, however, was absolutely broken by a shrill cry of a baby, making all four of them jump in their seats and turn to the crying infant in alarm.

“Oh God, I think I just about had a heart attack…” Lily mumbled, eyes wide.

“I’m so sorry!” the mother hastened to apologize, taking her crying son out of his stroller and into her arms, trying in vain to calm him down.

Ashley looked over at her wide-eyed aunts and started chuckling at the ridiculous situation.

“What are you laughing about?” Jill asked. “I agree with your sister. The shock just about killed me…” She let out an exaggerated sigh. “And it sure couldn’t have been good for the baby…” She placed a hand on her abdomen. The brunette stopped laughing immediately, throwing an apologetic glance to her aunt.

They all cringed again when the baby’s wailing only became worse, the mother wincing and standing up from her chair to walk around the waiting room.

Ashley quickly got up as well. “Sorry…” She apologized and then grinned, throwing her blonde aunt a wink “Watch this…” She moved to the mother’s side and held out her arms, throwing in a charming smile for good measure. “May I?”

The woman gave her a dubious look, but placed her son carefully in the brunette’s arms.

The girl readjusted her grip, so she could free a hand and then gently stroked the baby’s cheek with her fingers. “Hey, hey… What’s wrong?” She murmured in a soothing voice.

The mother’s jaw (and about everyone else’s in the room, including the nurse’s who was watching from behind her desk) hit the floor, when the crying stopped almost immediately and the boy looked at the teenager with wide, teary eyes.

“Well, hi there, handsome.” Ashley grinned and ran her fingers through his short curls, causing a gurgle to escape his mouth, along with a small hand quickly gripping her thumb.

The four women in the room, aside from Denise, Jill and the baby’s mother, all swooned, awed expressions replacing their shock from moments before. The woman standing next to Ashley opened and closed her mouth several times, before turning to the attorneys “How…?”

Jill snapped her mouth shut and let out a chuckle when her niece turned to her and winked again. Lily rolled her eyes and mumbled something under her breath that closely resembled ‘show-off’.

Denise raised an eyebrow in amusement. “She’s just really good with children. Always has been, even when she was just a small child herself.” She answered the woman’s unfinished question.

“Babies just love me.” The 16 year old added confidently, grinning widely.

Her sister rolled her eyes again. “Ash, your ego is showing…” She stated flatly, earning herself a raspberry that caused the small baby to break out into incredibly amused gurgles.

“Told ya, he loves me!” Ashley bragged, causing all the women to swoon again and chuckle with mirth.

Lily giggled and turned to her aunts. “So the stories I heard about her charming pregnant women on mom’s doctor’s appointments were actually true…”

“Oh believe me, if Lindsay were here, you’d have two inflated egos to deal with, not just one…” Jill huffed out, before snorting in amusement.

*****

 

They were soon called by the nurse, just as Claire came bustling through the door and, waving away Jill’s questions about her unannounced but not unwelcome presence, dragged the blonde to the room the nurse had indicated. Denise followed at a more sedate pace, mouthing a silent ‘thank you’ to her smiling nieces.

Lily focused back on her mother’s voice on the other end of the phone line. “Mom, we are just fine. No worries.” She giggled to herself “You should be enjoying your vacation without the children, ‘cause we don’t want you doing any of those… bedroom-slash-only-appropriate-for-honeymoon activities when we’re around…”

She laughed when Lindsay threw an offended huff through the line. “I can tell already that you’ve been spending way too much time with Jill…” The inspector complained, only to have the phone snatched away.

“Anyways, how is Jill? Isn’t her check-up today?” Cindy asked, concerned, throwing her lover a warning glance when she saw the taller woman was about to protest having the phone taken away from her.

“Well… she was a bit anxious, which I suppose is expected. I think aunt Denise didn’t sleep a wink last night, honestly…” The redhead girl said in a similar concerned tone.

Cindy frowned, sitting down at the edge of their hotel bed. Lindsay, noticing the seriousness of her lover’s expression, shuffled closer and wrapped an arm around her waist.

“But she’s okay now…” Their daughter continued, glancing briefly to her older sister who was still entertaining the thoroughly amused baby. She grinned. “Actually… and I wish you could see this, because it’s _very_ fascinating and entertaining… Ash has been working her Boxer charm on the pregnant ladies and they’re all, like, swooning…”

The reporter started laughing so hard she had to give the phone back to her lover. The inspector raised an eyebrow. “What was that?” She asked, hearing her daughter giggling on the other end.

“Mom, your daughter… my lovely, grumpy sister, has been wooing the expecting mothers, by grinning at a baby boy who was crying loudly. And now she’s just making him gurgle, much to said baby’s mother’s amusement and everyone else’s romantic heart’s enjoyment…”

Lindsay chuckled, trying to picture the scene. “Just like she did when your mother was pregnant with you…”

“I totally believe you now…” The girl said amidst her giggles, disconnecting the call soon after.

Lily moved down the corridor, waving at her sister to follow her, knocking on the door she’d seen her aunts disappear through. She poked her head inside and grinned at the four women in the room. Jill was already sitting on the exam table with Denise to one side and Claire to the other.

“Hi! Sorry about that, but mom insisted on making sure we are being taken care off.” She skipped into the room, hugging her recently arrived aunt. “They were also worried and want us to call when we’re done here…” She then clapped her hands excitedly “So! I want to know! Am I getting a cute little girl or a heartthrob-inducing little boy for a cousin?” The girl asked her aunts, Denise looking at her in utter bewilderment.

Doctor Lisa Anderson looked at the hyper girl in a bit of a shock, chart in her hands completely forgotten.

Claire placed a hand on her niece’s shoulder. “Calm down Lily. Where is your sister?”

“She should be here as soon as she has properly made all those women swoon and melted their hearts by cooing at a baby…” She waved a hand dismissingly, eyes fixed on Jill’s midsection.

“Lily!” The girl in question hissed as she entered the room, closing the door behind herself. “You’re just jealous I can make so many people turn to mush with a single look and smile. Totally. _Jealous_.” She smirked, which only irked her sibling, who promptly smacked the brunette on the head.

“We need to do something about that over-grown ego of yours… It’s worse than mom’s!”

Their three aunts shook their heads in dismay, while the doctor just stared at the two teenagers, before something clicked in her mind and she started laughing uncontrollably.

Everyone turned to look at her.

“I’m sorry. It’s just…” She managed to get out before succumbing to laughter again.

“This must be the weirdest OB appointment I’ve ever been to…” Jill commented, sharing a look with her lover.

The doctor cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure. “I’m sorry. Something just clicked in my head and it tickled my funny bone.” She cleared her throat again and looked at the two teenagers. “I see that you’re still using those handsome brown eyes and killer smile to make my patients swoon, Ashley…”

The brunette gaped at the doctor, blushing slightly.

Lily glanced between her sister and the doctor with a frown. “And just how exactly do you know her name?”

“Haven’t we told you?” Jill asked, looking at her confused nieces.

“Told us what?” Ashley asked, rubbing her nose.

Doctor Anderson sat down on a stool and smiled. “Well, I was the one who told you and your mothers that they’d be having another little girl. I have to say I will never forget the grin on your face when you found out you’d be having a little sister and then proclaimed you’d be taking care of her…”

The girl’s blush returned full force, Claire smiling at the embarrassed girl, Denise and Jill smirking.

Lily giggled. “You were mom’s doctor.” She stated simply before turning her smile to her sister “And I repeat what I’ve said before; you were absolutely cute. I totally love you, you know that?” She threw her arms around the brunette and giggled again.

“I have to admit, I didn’t think I’d see either of you again. It’s not often I see my patients’ children after they reach a certain age, but this was a nice surprise…” The doctor commented, readying the sonogram and spreading some gel on Jill’s belly. “You really look like your mothers… Brown eyes, charming smiles…”

“Never ending perkiness…” The blonde attorney added with a devious smile.

“Tendency to get in trouble…” Denise said, looking at her nails and smirking.

“Stubbornness… times two…” Claire laughed, when they all received rather unamused glares from their nieces.

“Okay! We get it! Thank you!” Lily huffed indignantly, burying her heated face in her sister’s shoulder. “Moving on now…”

“Indeed.” The doctor agreed, turning to her monitor. “So, let us see how this baby is doing…”

Denise gripped her lover’s hand more firmly and squeezed reassuringly. Claire placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder for support. The two girls moved a little bit closer to their prone aunt.

The doctor studied the screen intensely, wanting to make sure she didn’t miss anything. She’d been Jill’s doctor right from the beginning and had been there when she’d been brought to the emergency room and had miscarried. She’d seen how it had affected both women and wanted to make absolutely sure it wouldn’t happen again.

She exhaled and turned to find five expecting faces staring right at her. “This…” She pointed to the screen and smiled. “… is a healthy developing baby.”

“Really?” Jill asked apprehensively, eyes flicking from the screen to her doctor and back to the screen. “Nothing is wrong?”

Lisa nodded.

“You’re absolutely sure?” Came from Denise.

“Yes, as sure as I can be. Here…” The rhythmic thumping of a small heartbeat filled the room. “And you can see for yourselves…”

Claire snorted when the doctor turned the monitor so they could have a better look. Lily giggled, while Ashley raised an eyebrow in amusement. “I think he is trying to make a statement…” She commented, causing her blonde aunt to break out into relieved laughter.

The doctor chuckled. “Indeed. They are rarely in such a position that… well, you can see… Anyways, congratulations ladies, you will soon be having a little boy running around all of you women…”

Everyone laughed, Denise leaning down and kissing her lover gently.

When they didn’t separate right away, Lily blinked owlishly again. “It’s the second time within the span of an hour that they are _kissing. In public_. It’s getting a bit weird…”

Jill glared at her smirking niece for good measure, Ashley slapping a hand to her face in dismay.

“I see you are just as filter-free as your mother. I would pay to see how you will deal with your first pregnancy if you get similar mood swings to hers…” The doctor smirked and raised an eyebrow for emphasis, causing everyone but the girl in question to burst out laughing.

Lily didn’t find it the slightest bit amusing.

At all.


	3. Doctor's Appointment: Lily

_Almost 20 years later…_

 

“Jackson?! _Jackson_!! Will you get the damn door?! And if that’s your sister-in-law, I will beat her up for being fucking late!”

Ashley’s eyes widened in slight panic, just as the door opened to reveal a sheepishly grinning Tim Jackson. “Makes certain criminals look tame in comparison, doesn’t it?” He whispered, hoping not to be overheard.

“I heard that!!” Came from within the house, making him wince.

The brunette woman took an involuntary step back, when she saw her younger sister stalking towards the door.

“You are fucking late!!” The redhead accused with two very prominent finger jabs to her older sister’s shoulder, before stomping out the door to her car.

The two brunettes at the door let out heavy sighs.

“Jesus Christ. How in the world do you handle her?” The inspector asked in bewilderment, rubbing the sore spot on her shoulder. “I mean, hell. She’s just like four months along, right?”

The man donned his jacket and then grabbed his wife’s off the hook behind the door. He shrugged and looked out towards the fuming woman glaring at them from Ashley’s car. “She’s my wife, I love her and she’s having my baby?” He offered with another sheepish grin.

“Yeah, sounds about right…” The woman laughed.

“And I’m only ever in trouble if she uses my full name-” He started, only to be rudely interrupted by Lily sticking her head out the passenger side window and yelling at them.

“Timothy Elijah Jackson!! Get your fine behind in this car _immediately_ or I swear I will file for divorce!!”

The man didn’t think twice about running to his sister-in-law’s car and jumping into the backseat. Ashley blinked in astonishment.

“The same goes for you!!” The redhead threatened with an accusing finger. “And don’t you _dare_ ask me if I’ll file for divorce with you too!! You don’t want to know how I will react to that!!”

The brunette snapped her mouth shut and the mischievous glint disappeared from her eyes instantly; she quickly ran down the driveway to her car and drove off in record time.

******

 

Homicide Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer was not a happy camper, something that was getting worse by the minute as Chief Medical Examiner Claire Washburn watched her long time friend yell all kinds of obscenities into her phone, while gesticulating widely.

The woman glanced around her morgue taking stock of the three bodies that had just been rolled in and sighed heavily. Adding to the other 10 bodies in her freezers, it was turning out to be a rather violent, if meticulous, killing spree.

A rather animalistic growl tore her from her musings, head swivelling around to look at her visibly distressed friend, as the woman glared at her phone and pondered whether throwing it at the wall would help quench some of her frustrations.

“Son of a bitch! No wonder Ash punched him square in the face this morning. Damn well deserved it, if you ask me…”

Claire raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed with all the profanities.

Lindsay glanced up and smiled apologetically. “Sorry. I just hate my job right now… Hell, I hate it most days of the week…”

Her second eyebrow rose to join its twin. “I seriously doubt the veracity of that statement…” She stated with a quirk of her lips. “Regardless…”

She was interrupted, as the doors swung open and Jill walked in, quickly followed by her grinning son. “I am getting too damn old to put up with this kind of political bullshit! Someone please remind me why I thought that taking Denise’s job, while she went off to become District Attorney, was a good idea?”

Tyler snorted. “That is a rather easy question… You deserved the promotion and you think mom looks hot in the power suits…”

The blonde’s left eye twitched, as she looked over her shoulder to glare at her son. “Shouldn’t you be doing something productive with your time? Like studying for your exams coming up?”

The 18 year old smirked and waved a hand dismissingly “Oh please, I’m _your_ son. I will pass those exams with flying colours. Besides, I want to have a career in marine biology, not rocket science. I’m not crazy like T.J.”

“Young man, flattery will get you nowhere.” Denise stated as she walked in, turning to Lindsay, while keeping an eye on her phone. “Speaking of your son-in-law, Ashley called me about five minutes ago, saying that they were on their way to the hospital for Lily’s appointment. Why is she calling me? I’m not her mother…”

Lindsay sighed dejectedly. “We might have had a… _disagreement_ earlier today… and I might have… _suspended_ her for a few days…”

“I do wonder why your boss ever worried you’d show favouritism because she’s your daughter… I sure feel the love…” Jill commented.

The brunette threw her a dirty look. “Thing is, I now believe she was well within her rights to punch that overbearing, political sleazeball… Gave me a couple of hours to focus on this case without his constant interruptions for updates… Anyways, Claire, anything new you’d like to add to your already very thorough and meticulous reports before the next task force meeting in 20 minutes?” She smiled, showing her dimples.

Claire chuckled. “We’re back to flattery, are we? Well, _Lieutenant_ , I regret to inform you that no new developments or findings have surfaced so far. Of course, now there are three more bodies to perform autopsies on, which I will gladly delegate to my employees so I can go take a nice, long coffee break.”

“It is rather nice to have employees you can delegate your work to is it not?” Lindsay added cheekily, before sauntering out the door with Jill in tow.

Tyler grinned widely, while Denise shook her head and sighed.

******

 

Ashley followed her sister and brother-in-law through the hospital doors, looking surreptitiously around. She was debating whether it had really been a good idea to accompany them to Lily’s appointment. The redhead insisted on having all her check-ups done by one of her colleagues at the hospital and the brunette was not particularly keen on running into-

“Rachel! There you are!” Lily exclaimed, waving at the surgeon filling out some paperwork at the reception desk.

The dark haired woman looked up and smiled, almost being knocked over in her friend’s exuberance to give out hugs.

Tim shook his head; he had given up trying to keep up with his wife’s rapidly shifting moods. Just fifteen minutes before she had been yelling at him and Ash and now was giving out hugs and smiling widely. Then he recalled just whom exactly his wife was animatedly chatting with and he glanced over his shoulder at his sister-in-law.

“You okay, Ash?” He queried, seeing her slightly pained expression and laid a hand on her shoulder, offering a small smile.

The inspector glanced at the two doctors. Dr. Rachel Howard was tall, dark-haired, with the most amazing green eyes she’d ever seen, and in her most personal opinion, the love of her life. The drawback was that they had broken off their six-month relationship just two months before and she was more than unhappy with that decision. But she sucked it up because she understood Rachel’s reasons for not wanting to continue their relationship. It just didn’t mean she had to like it, even less so when she saw the woman on a mostly regular basis, seeing as she was her sister’s co-worker and best friend.

“I’ll be fine T.J.” She replied with a long exhale of air.

“I did ask Lily to maybe talk to her after the check-up, and not right in front of you, but I don’t think she listened. She just said you had to get over yourself, before she kicked me out of bed and demanded I made her breakfast.”

Ashley snorted. “Seriously, man… How. Do. You. Handle. Her?”

He shrugged.

“Hey!! You there having a guy-moment.” The two brunettes turned to look at Lily with raised eyebrows. “Let’s move!! I want to get this done today!” They shared a look and then moved to join the two waiting women.

“Hey, Tim. It’s nice to see you again.” The doctor greeted, offering the smiling man a hug. Her own smile turned less enthusiastic and a bit more forced as she turned to her former lover. “Hey, Ash…”

“Rachel…” The inspector gave a curt nod, stuffing her hands in her jeans’ pockets.

Lily winced internally. She had actually forgotten about their delicate situation. “Ah, so how about that appointment of mine?” She said, trying to diffuse the slightly awkward moment. “Let’s go!” she grabbed her friend and dragged her away, throwing an apologetic glance over her shoulder. She had some serious making up to do…

Ashley shrugged. “This day cannot get any more frustrating…” T.J. gave her a friendly pat on the back and guided her after the retreating women.

******

 

They moved to a private room in the emergency room, where Lily promptly hopped onto the bed. Rachel excused herself to go call her friend’s obstetrician and quietly left the room.

The door opened again about a minute later and a short, bald man with slightly crooked glasses poked his head in. Lily peered around her husband and raised an eyebrow. “Can we help you?”

The man stepped into the room, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his white, doctor’s coat. He grinned. “Dr. Jackson, right? We met a few days ago, I’m Dr. John Avery…?”

The redhead wracked her brain. “Oh, I remember… You just got here about two weeks ago, right?” She politely said, smiling as well.

Ashley frowned, looking from her sister to the doctor and then back again. Her sister’s smile was absolutely fake and something about the short man made her gun hand twitch.

“Right.” The newcomer replied. “I just… I saw you coming in, but I thought it was your day off…”

“Oh it is; I’m just here for a check-up.” The redhead replied, still smiling politely, but her sister noticed that she was getting more uncomfortable by the minute.

His smile dropped and he adopted a concerned expression. “Is everything alright? Actually, now that you mention it, Dr. Stevens said he was coming to check on you when I talked to him just a few minutes ago. He didn’t seem concerned, so it’s nothing serious, then?”

“No, no. Just an ordinary check-up. I figured I might as well get it out of the way and brought my sister along for hers. She kinda hates needles…” She commented with a little laugh.

That was a lie.

It was also her cue.

Ashley straightened up her posture, standing up to her full height and fixed her unwavering stare on Dr. Avery. She knew what Lily was doing; deflecting the man’s attention away from her and onto her sister in a situation like that meant she was incredibly uncomfortable and wanted the brunette to help her out of it efficiently and effectively.

“Yeah, that would be me.” She said with a slightly annoyed look. “Don’t particularly like needles… I’m Inspector Boxer.”

The man grasped her outstretched hand, looking down at her belt where her badge and gun were conspicuously missing. “Dr. Avery.”

“I’m currently off duty. Don’t like to announce my job everywhere I go… Might put some people off…” She supplied when she noticed where his eyes were.

He smiled a crooked grin. “Understandable.” He looked back to the redhead and her husband. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I have patients to attend to. I’ll see you around Dr. Jackson.” He waved and smiled again, before exiting the room.

Ashley’s smile dropped faster than a free falling hammer. She moved to the still open door and leaned casually against the wall, watching the retreating doctor.

“Honey, are you okay?” She heard T.J. ask, the concern clearly evident in his tone. He had picked up on the slight uncomfortable feeling permeating the room. “And since when is Ash afraid of needles?”

“You’re afraid of needles? What?” Rachel asked, appearing at the door and glancing at her former lover with a raised eyebrow.

Ashley never looked away from Dr. Avery. She watched as he went about checking patient’s charts and chatting with them briefly before continuing his round around the room.

“She’s not afraid of needles. Please, this is Ashley-not-afraid-of-anything-Boxer we’re talking about.” Lily huffed from her perch on the bed. “It’s just… That man gives me the heebie-jeebies every time he even so much glances my way.” She sighed and rested her forehead against her husband’s shoulder.

He ran a hand through her red locks in a comforting gesture. “I do agree with you on that…”

“You mean the new guy, Dr… hmmm… Avery, is it? There _is_ something off about him…” Rachel mumbled, glancing briefly at the man in question. The inspector frowned. “Anyways, I called up to the maternity ward and I couldn’t find Dr. Stevens, which is very strange…”

“Is he doing any surgeries today?” The redhead asked, looking at her friend.

“Not that I’m aware of. I think you are supposed to be his last patient of the day… I called his office and no one picked up, so I called the nurse’s station again and asked them to check the floor, see if they can find him. They said they haven’t seen him since this morning.”

That caught Ashley’s attention. “This morning? Are you sure about that?”

Rachel was a bit taken aback by the forceful tone. “Huh… Yeah… That’s what the nurse said-”

She was interrupted by a nurse waving frantically from the reception desk and calling her name. “Dr. Howard! You have to take this. It’s from the maternity ward. They found Dr. Stevens!”

“What in the world…?” The dark haired woman jogged off, grabbing the phone off the other woman’s hand before she’d even come to a stop at the counter.

The brunette watched with an increasing feeling of foreboding, as the doctor’s eyes went wide and she let out an incredulous ‘ _What_?!’. Then something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. She turned her head, just in time to see Dr. Avery grabbing a scalpel from a tray and concealing it in one of his pockets, before disappearing behind a curtain.

Just before it fluttered shut, he looked right at her. For the two seconds their eye contact lasted, she saw his smirk turn sinister and then he vanished out of sight.

“What is going on?” Lily asked, approaching her sister.

Ashley slammed the door shut, pushing the redhead back into the room. “You stay here. No matter what you hear outside that door, you don’t leave this room. Understood?”

“Ash, what’s-”

“Lily!” the inspector cut her off, dropping down to one knee and unholstering her back-up gun. “Promise me you won’t leave this room until I come get you…”

The redhead gulped; she felt fear creeping up her spine, as she watched the brunette checking her gun, making sure the safety was off and that the magazine was inside.

The taller woman got back up and looked at her younger sister straight in the eye with the most serious expression she’d ever seen on her. “Promise me, Lily. No matter what…”

“Yeah, okay… I… promise…” She whispered haltingly.

Ashley nodded, satisfied, before turning to her brother-in-law. She grabbed his hand and slapped her gun into it. “If that doctor comes back, you shoot him. Don’t think about it. Just. Shoot. Him.”

The man’s eyes widened in slight horror. “Ash, I’ve never-”

“Believe me, if it comes to protecting her and your baby…” She pointed to her sister, backing up towards the door. “You _will_ have shot that bastard before your brain has even had the time to process him threatening your family.”

She left the room and closed the door behind herself. Looking left and right a few times, she took out her phone and dialled her mother’s number and walked towards the reception desk where Rachel was still on the phone.

“Rach, what’s going on?” She asked, placing a comforting hand on the other woman’s back when she noticed her stricken expression.

The doctor jumped at the sudden contact and turned to face her former lover with wide eyes. “He… He’s dead… The nurses just found him in his office…”

“Here, take this.” She handed her cell phone over and took the desk phone. “When my mom picks up just tell her to wait, ‘cause I need to talk to her.”

The dark haired doctor nodded and curled a hand around the brunette’s bicep, needing the comfort the contact always provided her.

“Hello? No, Dr. Howard is still here.” Ashley started before the slightly hysterical nurse went back to talking a mile a minute. “Okay, hang on! Look, I’m Inspector Ashley Boxer from the San Francisco PD and I need to know what happened. So you need to calm down and tell me what is going on up there…”

“Ash, look, I know you’re pissed at me but-” Rachel almost jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice in her ear.

“No, no. Actually, it’s me, Rachel…” She interrupted quickly, squeezing the brunette’s arm to get her attention.

“Rachel?” Lindsay asked, with a raised eyebrow. “What are you doing with Ashley’s phone?”

Jill looked at her friend questioningly. ‘Didn’t they break up?’ She mouthed, getting a shrug in reply.

“There’s been a… Something happened… Dr. Stevens is dead, and Ash’s on the phone with the nurses and… Oh, wait, I’ll pass you to her…” The doctor gave back the cell phone.

The Lieutenant sat up in her chair. Jill frowned.

“No, just leave the office as it is and call the police. Don’t let anyone into the office either…” Ashley told the still panicky nurse, before focusing on her mother’s voice. “Mom, listen… I think we got another one… Dr. Mark Stevens, Lily’s OB…”

“Shit, Ashley, are you sure?” Lindsay asked, getting up from her desk and taking the phone with her, stretching the chord to get to her office door. “Meyers! Connor! Up here, now!” She yelled down to the bullpen, the two men in question scrambling out of their seats and jogging up the stairs.

“Yeah… From what the nurse said, he was stabbed a couple of times and his throat slit, side to side. And I need you to check out a Dr. John Avery. I’m not sure he is our killer, but something about him just doesn’t sit right with me and-” A loud commotion in the emergency room area, cut her off mid sentence.

She swivelled around just as the first shot rang out followed a few seconds later by another one, before there was a loud cry and her brother-in-law flew through the room’s door, which was thrown of its hinges, to land unconscious across the hall.

Ashley took off running with her mother’s and Rachel’s shouts ringing in her ears. Her eyes widened in horror, when her sister stumbled out of the room at gunpoint.

Time seemed to slow down as she picked up her pace and jumped as the shooter aimed and fired. The sound of the gun going off echoed loudly in her ears as she tackled her sister to ground, at the same time as she felt fire spreading out from her abdomen as the bullet cut through skin and muscle.

She must have blacked out for a few seconds, before a cacophony of sound came crashing back down around her, as people screamed and ran for the nearest exits and Lily yelled her name in panic.

She was rolled onto her back and felt hands pressing down on her, feeling as blood flowed out of the open wound to form a warm pool around her. Her vision was rather hazy, the ceiling going in and out of focus.

“Avery!! Grab her!!” Someone shouted from above her. “And you stay right there!! One step closer and I’ll shoot her again, and this time it’ll be in the head!!” Rachel froze on the spot as Lily was yanked to her feet. She tried fighting the doctor off, swinging an elbow against his ribs, until her sister’s gun was shoved in her face. “You better calm down or I’ll shoot you as well.” She went deathly still when Avery pressed a scalpel against her neck.

Ashley vaguely recognized that voice. She turned her head, squinting against the fog slowly taking over her line of sight, to glare at the man holding her gun. “You… son… of a-”

“Silence!!” He shouted down at her, kicking her across the face.

“NO!!” Rachel yelled.

“SILENCE!!” he swivelled around to face her. The room went eerily quiet, as the last fleeing patients left through the swinging doors. “Now! You there!” He pointed his gun at the nurse cowering at the reception desk. “Lock the doors to this area, right now!”

She didn’t even think to hesitate, doing as demanded. The automatic doors all clicked shut, seconds before the security guards could storm through.

“Now, pick up the phone and call the police and tell them you want to talk to Homicide Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer!” He turned back to his hostages with an evil smirk. “It is rather fortunate that her two daughters just happened to be here today…”

******

 

Lindsay was starting to panic; her daughter’s phone just kept ringing and ringing with no one picking up the call. She looked at the two inspectors awaiting her orders. “You two! Mission Cross North Hospital! I want to know what the hell is going on!!”

They scrambled out the door, just as a patrol officer came flying into the office, almost colliding with Jill. “Lieutenant! Dispatch has been getting several calls about shots being fired at Mission Cross North-”

She gave up on her phone, grabbing her gun and jacket off the back of the chair.

“Lindsay!” Jill ran after her, as her friend exited her office and took the stairs two at a time. “You just can’t go and-”

“Like hell I can’t!!” Was the heated answer.

“Lindsay!!” The attorney caught up to the brunette at the bottom of the stairs and grabbed at her arm, swinging her around to face her. “Lindsay. You’re-”

“Tell me I’m too old to be doing this and I _will_ slap you silly!” The Lieutenant glared, pulling her arm free.

“Linz-”

“ _Lieutenant_!” Someone yelled from across the room.

“ _WHAT_??!”

The man almost peed his pants at the ferocity in the woman’s voice. He gulped and held out his desk phone. “Dispatch just put a call through. A nurse from the hospital. She specifically requested to talk to you.”

He quickly rushed away from the desk, when the enraged woman snatched the phone out of his hands.

******

 

“Look! Just let me check on her!” Rachel begged. “Please! We need to stop her bleeding before she…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence, her anguished eyes darting between the brunette bleeding out on the floor and the mad man holding them all hostage.

“Do I look like I care?” he snapped back, before looking at the nurse. “What’s taking so damn long?!”

The woman jumped and held out the phone. “They… She’s on the phone…”

“Avery, keep an eye on them. No funny business or I _will_ shoot you where you stand!” He snarled, shoving the dark haired doctor as he passed her. “Make sure she doesn’t die just yet.”

The woman took a few steadying breaths before kneeling down next to the unconscious Tim and checking the bleeding gash on his face.

“Is he okay?” Lily asked meekly, tears silently running down her cheeks.

Rachel moved the man to a more comfortable position before nodding. “He’ll be fine. It’s nothing serious.” She reassured, taking off her doctor’s coat and moving to Ashley’s side.

“He… ey…” The brunette gasped out, trying to smile and failing.

“Here, raise your head.” The doctor placed her folded coat under the woman’s head and then ran a hand across her face to clean off some of the blood from her nose and mouth from where she’d been kicked.

She glanced down at the bleeding wound, desperately blinking back her tears. She placed both her hands on it to try and stem the flow of blood, but she knew that if they didn’t get the brunette to surgery soon, she’d be bleeding out right there before their eyes. “You’ll be fine…” She said, smiling at the inspector.

Ashley saw right through her fake optimism. “… Li… ar…” She winced, fisting a hand in the woman’s sweater and pulling her just a bit closer.

******

 

Lindsay went stock still when the man’s voice came through the line. “Mr. Davis?!” She asked, slightly aghast. Jill looked up from her phone in alarm.

“We’re back to addressing each other civilly are we, _Lieutenant_? Just an hour ago you were calling me a ‘political sleazeball’ was it?”

“Is this some kind of joke?”

The man sneered. “If you think that me holding five people, including your two daughters, hostage is a joke, by all means…”

Lindsay glared. “If you so much as _touch_ them, I swear I’ll-”

“You’ll do nothing! You’re in no position to make demands! Now, why don’t you come to the hospital and we can have a nice little chat? Maybe teach you some manners in regards to addressing your superiors?” He conveniently didn’t mention that he’d probably shoot her on sight.

“Listen up, you _political sleazeball_ ,” She emphasized with a snarl. “The only chat we’ll be having is when you’re in my interrogation room confessing all your crimes against the 13 people lying in the morgue and the fraud you have put this city through in the past year. And make sure to tell my daughter that I’ll give her a fucking medal for having punched you in the face today!”

The man growled. “I doubt she’ll be alive long enough for that, _Lieutenant_ , seeing as she is bleeding out on the cold tile floor as we speak from the bullet I put through her. You have an hour.” And with that the line went dead.

The woman went pale, the mayor’s last words ringing loudly in her ears.

“Lindsay?” Jill called as her friend slumped into the empty chair.

“Linz?” A second voice asked, the officers and inspectors parting to let Cindy and Claire through.

“Ashley… she’s…” the reporter’s hands flew to her mouth to hold in the sob that threatened to escape. “He said she’s been shot… And he’s got Lily too…”

Claire took hold of the redhead’s shoulders to keep her steady.

Just then, Denise Kwon came stomping into the room. “What the hell is going on?! I just heard that there might be a hostage situation at Mission Cross North, possibly related to this damn case?!” Several people shrunk away under her furious gaze.

Seeing as his Lieutenant was still too shocked to speak, Inspector Paul Foster spoke up. “Uh, Ms. Kwon? There were shots fired and we’ve been receiving reports from officers already on scene that there is indeed a hostage situation. Uhmm, the… he just called… Mayor Davis, he’s… he seems to have shot Inspector Boxer and is keeping her and 4 other people, including Dr. Jackson… hostage…”

The District Attorney’s eyes widened comically. “ _What_?! The Mayor? Are you fucking kidding me?!” She screeched, causing several people to take a few steps back in fear.

When no one responded, she stomped over to the mute Lieutenant and yanked her up by her collar, before slapping her square in the face. Several jaws dropped in shock. “Pull yourself together, Boxer!! This is your damn family!! So what are you gonna do to get them out of there alive?!”

The slap seemed to do the trick. Lindsay snarled and pushed Denise away. “I want SWAT! Someone call Trent and tell him to get his men together and meet me at the hospital. Foster!! Background on Dr. John Avery; Ashley mentioned him before this went all to hell.” She paused for a breath, before turning to one of her female inspectors. “Miles, the wife. I want to know everything she knows! I don’t care if you have to slap her to get it out of her.” The woman and her partner scurried out the door. “The rest of you, I want to know Davis’ connection to this Dr. Avery. I want to know everything there is to know about him from the moment he was born, till he became Mayor. _Everything_! Talk to his office personnel. Montoya, I want you to come with me. You’re my best shooter and if you get the chance, you will shoot this bastard. Grab me a vest, we leave in 2 minutes.” The recently promoted inspector raced back to his desk to grab his gun before running out the door.

Lindsay turned back to her friends and lover. “Jill-”

“Already on it. I’ll have all the warrants written and signed in an hour.” She left without further ado, taking out her phone as she went. If Tyler insisted on being lazy and not revise for his exams, then he would be helping her get his cousins out of this mess.

The Lieutenant approached her lover cautiously. “Cindy, we’ll get to her in time. Remember she’s my daughter; too damn stubborn to die.”

The shorter woman nodded and took a deep breath. The brunette ran her thumbs over her cheeks cleaning away her tears. “I need building plans; the hospital, buildings around it, access routes…”

“I’ll get them to you as soon as I have them.” Cindy stated resolutely, kissing her lover for reassurance. “I want them back…” She whispered, looking deeply into Lindsay’s eyes, the woman nodding without hesitation.

“Claire, please go with her. And be on standby, Ashley mentioned there had been a homicide at the hospital before this started.” The two women left without a word.

Denise straightened when the Lieutenant fixed her with an intense glare, stalking up to her and invading her personal space. “You slap me like that ever again, and I will make sure you’re confined to a wheelchair for the rest of your life.”

The DA raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. They stared at each other for a full minute, before the brunette murmured a barely heard ‘Thank you.’ and left without looking back.

******

 

“Avery, let her go.” Davis waved a hand at the redhead. “But you so much attempt something, you’ll be wearing a permanent smile like Dr. Stevens up in his office…”

Lily nodded frantically, the doctor releasing his hold on her. She joined the frightened nurse on the floor, sitting down next to her still unconscious husband.

“What the fuck… do you wa- want?” Ashley rasped out from the floor in the best commanding voice she could muster.

“Ash, don’t ta-” Rachel started, only to clamp her mouth shut when the man knelt down right next to her to look at the bleeding inspector with a smirk.

“Just like your beloved mother… Never knows when to shut up and mind her own damn business.” He pressed the muzzle of the gun to the woman’s throat, making the doctor gasp in fear. “I’ll tell you what… You manage to live long enough for her to get here and you’ll find out what I want…” He got back up to join his smirking accomplice. “You might even see me shoot her right between the eyes… with your own gun…”

Lily’s eyes widened in horror. “NO!!” She shouted scrambling to her feet.

“LILY!!” The prone woman yelled from the floor, stopping the redhead dead in her tracks, before dissolving into a violent coughing fit.

“Ashley!” Rachel rolled her onto her side to prevent her from chocking in her own blood that all of sudden came flying out of her mouth.

Davis smirked. “Nice… If this keeps going you’ll get her killed without me doing anything else.” He threw at the redhead, who was shaking in anger and absolute fear for her sister’s life.

A pained groan had her looking down to her husband, who was slowly regaining consciousness. She glared at their captor for good measure, kneeling down to run a hand through Tim’s hair. “Tim?”

“Lily? Ow, my head…” He hissed lying back down and grasping for his wife’s hand instead. “You okay?”

She smiled down at him with tears in her eyes. “I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about…”

He tried blinking his hazy vision away, focusing intently on the redhead. “I’m… I think I’m- Ash?! Oh my God!” He shot up when he noticed the large blood pool surrounding his sister-in-law.

“Woah, easy!” Lily exclaimed grasping the man by his shoulders and guiding him back down. “It’s okay. She’s going to be fine too…”

There was a pained snort. “You-You’re a… terrible… li…ar… Lil… wo- worse than… mom…”

T.J. turned his head to look at his sister-in-law, locking gazes with her.

“You… okay?”

“Fine.” He mumbled back. “They took us by surprise… I-I couldn’t-”

“S’okay…” She coughed again, Rachel reaching down to wipe away the blood from her mouth.

“Ash, stop talking…”

The worried warning went ignored. “You… ‘member… what I said… ‘bout… frus-frustrating… day…?”

He gave a humourless laugh. “Yeah, talk about tempting fate.” He squeezed his wife’s hand and pulled her closer.

“Need to… learn… keep… m-mouth… shut…” The coughing fit that wracked her body was as violent as the first, making her fist tighten around Rachel’s sweater.

“Ash, please stop talking…” the dark-haired woman begged, the pressure becoming too much, making heavy tears fall from her eyes at the sight of her slowly dying ex-lover. She squeezed her eyes shut and applied more pressure on the bleeding gunshot wound. “Please…”

******

 

Lindsay slammed the car door shut and stalked over to the SWAT team van, where Trent was already organizing a possible raid. “Meyers! Connor! Talk to me!” She ordered, with Inspector Montoya trailing after her. The two men hurried to catch up to them.

“From what we have gathered, there were three shots fired in the emergency room…” Meyers glanced over to his partner uncertainly. “Uh, witnesses… report that a man… nurses identified him as Dr. Jackson’s husband, Timothy Jackson, was thrown out of the room where, uh…”

The woman glanced at him with a cold glare. “Out with it!”

“Yes, ma’am! Uh, right. He was thrown out of the room where his wife was supposed to have her OB check-up. Witnesses say that he was unconscious.”

“Then, Dr. Jackson was seen walking out of the room at gunpoint, at which point Inspector Boxer intervened and was shot.” Connor continued. “After that, we can’t be sure because doctors and patients had left the ward and it was locked from the inside, just before the security officers could get there…”

“You said that he’d taken five hostages, which, again from witness statements, we believe to be Dr. Jackson and her husband, Inspector Boxer, Dr. Rachel Howard and Nurse Stephanie Wyatt…” Meyers finished, listing off the names from his notepad.

Their Lieutenant stopped to stare at them. “Dr. Howard didn’t make it out?” The two men glanced at each other and shook their heads. “Jesus! What about-” She was interrupted by her ringing cell phone. “Talk to me.” She answered.

“Dr. John Avery just transferred to Mission Cross North from San Diego. No criminal record that I could find…” Foster shuffled some papers on his desk. “Graduated top of his class from UCLA, is praised by co-workers for his efficiency and dedication to his patients.”

“Okay, that’s enough. Keep looking into him. If you find anything else call me. Have they found anything on his connection to Davis?”

“No, but they’re still looking.”

She hung up without adding anything else. “Find out if Dr. John Avery is still in the building and if not I want to know _where_ he is.” The two men hurried away. “Trent! Tell me something good.”

“Not much yet. We tried making contact again, but he refuses to talk to anyone but you. We are still waiting on the damn building plans-”

“I have someone working on that. What can we do in the meantime?”

“I put men on the other floors, just to make sure patients and personnel are safe. I didn’t send anyone in to the emergency room, ‘cause I didn’t want to spook him.”

Lindsay glanced at her watch, before looking at the burly man again. “How long before it’s too late to save someone who was shot?” She asked and it almost sounded rhetorical.

“Depends on where they were shot and-” Montoya started to say, only to be silenced by a raised hand.

“Depends on a whole lot of things.” The brunette snapped. She glanced at the building and then turned back to the man in front of her. “Get me a line to him. He wants to talk to me, I’ll give him just that. Give me a cam and a mic, and we’ll get more info on what’s going in there.”

“Lieutenant… Lindsay, you can’t-”

“Save it Trent. These are my daughters, my son-in-law… my grandchild… I’ll be damned if I sit here and wait for this to sort itself out!”

He looked like he wanted to protest further, but decided to keep it to himself. They’d known each other for many years and he knew there was no use in arguing with her.

“So, I’ll go in and just start him talking. Give you some extra time before the plans get here. Montoya. Keep my phone.” She took the device from her jacket pocket and handed it to the wide-eyed man. “When Cindy calls, you bring her back here right away, got it?” he nodded. “And Trent, once you have those plans, see if you can sneak him in…?” She pointed to Inspector Montoya. “He’s my best shot and I want him in there. Even if his mother will give me hell for it afterwards.” She grinned slightly and then moved off to put on her vest and get a camera and a mike.

******

 

“Finally!” Davis exclaimed, slamming down the phone and making his hostages turn to look at him. He smirked gleefully. “Let’s get this show started. Avery, grab the redhead. I want to make sure the good Lieutenant doesn’t try anything stupid.”

“No!” Tim exclaimed. “Take-”

“Shut up!” Davis yelled, walking briskly up to him and waving the gun around. “You stay right where you are and keep your mouth shut!” He then grabbed Lily by the arm and forcefully hoisted her up, all while smirking smugly at her fuming husband. “Now, Nurse, back to the desk. You’ll open those doors only when I tell you to, understood? Otherwise we’ll have a problem…”

The scared woman quickly scrambled to her feet and back to the reception desk.

They waited with bated breath, as they heard some commotion outside the automatic doors. Then the phone rang again and Davis picked it up, barking into it before nodding at the nurse.

Dr. Avery tightened his hold on Lily, the scalpel digging painfully into her neck. Davis pointed the gun at her head for added security for him and his accomplice.

Lindsay had seen many horrible things during her life, and even though the scene that greeted her wasn’t one of the worst, it was definitely one of the few that would stay with her forever.

The former Mayor motioned for the nurse to close the doors again, smirking at the SWAT officers positioned just outside.

“Lieutenant, how nice of you to join us. I would offer you something to drink but…” He started backing up to where his other hostages were, never taking his eyes off the scowling woman.

“Will you just fuck off!” Lily exclaimed in a bout of heated annoyance at their captor’s fake hospitality. It earned her a hard smack across the face from the less that amused Davis.

Lindsay clenched her fists, hearing Ashley growl from the floor. “Hands… off… my sister… you son of-”

“Ash, stop talking!” Rachel hissed as another coughing fit took over the woman’s frame. “I swear if you die on me, I will bring you back only to kill you again.”

Lindsay swore she saw an amused glint in her daughter’s eyes.

“You have very well behaved little girls, Lieutenant.” Davis spit out dropping his arm to point the gun at the still coughing inspector. “Even while bleeding to death, they won’t shut up.”

The older brunette crossed her arms and adopted an unimpressed look. If this was to work out in her favour she had to keep calm and cool-headed. Even if she was ready to strangle both Davis and Avery with her bare hands. “What do you want?”

He raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Oh not much. Like I told your daughters before, I’ll probably just shoot you for being such a pain in my ass.”

Lily glared and grabbed at Avery’s arm around her neck.

“Lily, stop!” The Lieutenant warned, extremely worried about that scalpel.

“Yeah, do what your mother says. Or I’ll put a nice big smile across your neck…” The doctor taunted, an evil smirk on his face, and pressed the instrument hard enough to draw blood. The redhead stopped struggling, much to her mother’s relief.

“So, you’re the one responsible for the thirteen bodies in the morgue?” She directed at the doctor, seeing her opportunity for some stalling.

He smirked proudly. “You missed one. The lovely Dr. Stevens had the foresight to tell me about this patient of his that would be coming in this afternoon for her OB consultation. The Mayor was most pleased when he realized who exactly this patient was.” Davis nodded, confirming his accomplice’s words.

The man kept talking about his different victims, how he’d selected them, how he’d been approached by an old college friend who’d figured out he was the one responsible for the murders.

Then Davis started explaining how he’d needed someone to help him get rid of a particularly pesky annoyance (Lindsay _almost_ gave in to the desire to roll her eyes at him).

Ashley was starting to go in and out of conscience, the blood loss taking a toll on her weakening body. Which was why she thought she was hallucinating when a barely there movement caught her attention.

She coughed up more blood, causing Rachel to hold on to her that much more fiercely. The brunette rolled onto her side, making it easier for her to breathe and put her facing the direction she’d seen the small movement from.

The dark haired woman wiped at the sweat pouring down the inspector’s face, pressing her left hand against the still bleeding wound. She was beyond worried; in fact, she’d gone passed worried onto absolutely and utterly terrified of losing the woman in her arms.

“Ash, hang on… Please…” She whispered, feeling a hand curling in her sweater against her back. It made her look away from the blood pool surrounding them, to the brunette’s face. She was taken aback by the look of sheer determination in her eyes.

“Don’t… move…” Ashley whispered. Rachel squeezed the hand in hers in understanding, focusing her attention back on Davis’ monologue, but still keeping an eye on the other woman.

Lindsay seemed to be absolutely immersed in the diatribe the former Mayor was delivering. She honestly didn’t give a flying fuck about what he was saying; she was just trying to take in her surroundings without drawing attention to herself. Something that proved rather easy with an oblivious mad man keeping everyone’s attention on himself.

Everyone’s, except her daughter’s.

Who was looking in the complete opposite direction and tapping her fingers very lightly against Rachel’s back, despite her waning strength. The tapping then stopped, turning into a brief pointed finger before dropping to the ground.

When Ashley noticed her message had been received, she let out a ragged breath. She just had to hold on a bit longer and they might get out of the situation without losing any lives in the process. Of course, holding on was easier said than done. She was starting to get lightheaded and she didn’t need to be a doctor to know that that was not a good sign (the fact that her mind was still providing cheeky commentary, made her smile just a little).

Homicide Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer was utterly impressed with Inspector Montoya’s stealth and firm grasp of the situation. He’d somehow managed to get into the emergency room unnoticed, caught Ashley’s attention and had positioned himself close enough for a clear shot at the two men. All she had to do was give him the opportunity to use his skills; she had to get Lily out of Avery’s grasp without raising either man’s suspicions.

She opted for the simplest approach: direct strike.

“Lily?” She called, getting the redhead’s and the men’s attention. “Are you okay?” She asked, gesturing to her own neck. The younger woman nodded, trying to understand what her mother was doing.

“Lieutenant…” Davis drawled out slowly. “What are you doing?”

The older woman scowled. “What do you mean ‘what am I doing’? He’s holding a scalpel to my daughter’s throat. I’m concerned for her continued well-being.” She spat out in her best mom voice.

Ashley would have laughed if it wouldn’t cause her an unbearable amount of pain.

“Besides, the girl is with child. _My grandchild_ , I should point out…” She continued, never missing a beat. “So, _excuse me_ for acting as a concerned mother.” She was channelling Jill; it was cause for concern.

Davis and Avery looked at her as if she’d grown an extra head.

“What? You expected me to _drop and roll_ , while you hold half my family hostage?!” She asked indignantly.

Lindsay paused long enough to see if her daughter had gotten her hint, which she had. The brunette smirked. “Drop… And roll…” She repeated when Dr. Avery relaxed his grip on the scalpel minutely, watching in slight trepidation as her daughter let out an enraged grunt, grabbing at the doctor’s wrist and twisting and elbowing him simultaneously in the ribs.

The moment she was free she dove for the ground as a single shot rang out and hit the man in the heart, killing him before he hit the ground.

The SWAT team broke into the room, but the men all froze when Davis pressed the gun in his hand right against Ashley’s heart.

He had realized what was happening a split second before Lily had started moving. He’d ducked to avoid the shot and grabbed the brunette by a shoulder, to slam her flat on her back and push the gun to her chest.

Ashley fought desperately to stay conscious. When she’d been yanked away from Rachel, white, hot pain had shot from her abdomen and she’d cried out. Her entire body was on fire and she was panting hard for air that her lungs so badly required.

The dark haired doctor had moved forward, the urge to protect the woman she still loved incredibly strong. But Tim had grabbed her by the waist and held her in place.

The room was frozen like that for a few, long agonizing seconds.

Lindsay, gun drawn, took a hesitant step forward.

“ _Don’t move_!! Or I will shoot her!!” Davis yelled, pressing the gun down harder. He looked frantically around; there was no way for him to get out of there alive, but he’d be damned if he didn’t take at least one Boxer with him. So he focused on the woman lying on the floor and smirked “Any last words?”

The entire SWAT team and Inspector Montoya aimed at the former San Francisco Mayor.

Ashley gasped and turned a positively hate filled glare on him, before a smirk slowly, but surely took over her features. “Th-three… shots…”

The Lieutenant’s relieved laugh confused just about everyone in the room. Davis looked from one woman to the next as if they’d completely lost their sanity.

“You… must… … think I’m… stupid.” The brunette gasped out with great effort.

The man sneered and fired, before anyone had time to react.

Except nothing happened.

The gun merely clicked, the chamber empty.

“I wouldn’t… _ever_ … give a fully… l-loaded gun… to… T.J… his aim… horrid…” And with those last words, and an impossibly superior smirk, Ashley passed out.

******

She only woke up several hours later. It was nearing dawn, the sky outside her hospital room window turning lighter as the minutes passed. And even though Ashley was only awake for a few minutes, it was long enough for her to realize she was indeed still alive, before passing out again for almost another entire day.

******

 

Lily shot up in bed in a panic. She extricated herself from her husband’s arms and moved to the window leaning her forehead against the cool glass. She took several deep breaths to calm herself, before glancing back at the man sleeping on the hospital bed.

Head wrapped in a white bandage, the redhead was more than relieved that he’d only have a small scar as a reminder from the previous day.

She smiled when he mumbled something in his sleep and clutched the pillow she had just been using, quietly exiting the room and closing the door.

She almost ran head on into her brunette mother.

“Well, hello.” The older woman greeted with a small grin.

Lily giggled and wrapped her mother in a hug. “Morning, mom. She awake yet?”

Lindsay ran a soothing hand down her daughter’s back. “She was awake for a few minutes just before dawn. According to the nurse, who by the way – and this is important – is almost eight months pregnant… Ash grinned, said something about being surrounded on all sides by pregnant women and promptly fell asleep again.”

The redhead laughed against her mother’s shoulder. “She swooned, didn’t she?” The woman nodded. “Thought it was the sweetest thing in the world?” Another nod. “Wants to have my sister’s babies?” Lindsay snorted, which led to a round of full-blown laughter.

Cindy raised a curious eyebrow when she found them. “And just what is going on here?”

Lily giggled and extricated herself from Lindsay’s grasp, only to latch onto her other mother. “Ash is making the pregnant ladies swoon again…”

The reporter smiled, kissing her daughter’s forehead. “Yourself included it seems…”

“Yeah…” her smile slowly disappeared and she hugged her mother tighter. “I was so scared that she… that she’d-”

Lindsay wrapped her arms around both women. “She’s going to be okay…”

******

 

Ashley was most certainly not okay. She moaned and hissed and grumbled about stupid political sleazeballs that were always out to get her.

Rachel didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Ash? Ash…” She ran a hand through the inspector’s hair, grasping the hand not connected to an I.V.

“I hate… my life…” She huffed out, wincing at the stabbing pain in her abdomen, and blinking her eyes open.

The dark haired woman smiled, raising the hand in hers to her lips.

“God, you look awful…” Ashley noted once she got a good look at the doctor.

“Well, thank you. You flatter me…” Was the sarcastic reply.

The inspector grinned impishly and wiggled an eyebrow, earning herself a highly amused laugh.

“I love you…” It came out unexpectedly, before Rachel could stop herself.

Ashley’s mouth dropped open in shock, as the other woman closed her eyes at the slip and took a deep breath, opening them again to stare resolutely back at the woman she loved.

“R-Rach… don’t say that…” the brunette had a pained look on her face and it was not from her gunshot wound.

“No, listen. I know I said that I couldn’t be with you… that I didn’t want to be constantly worried you’d be the next police officer being wheeled in to the ER because of an arrest gone wrong… whether I’d see you again the next day…” She paused, wiping away the stray tears that fell from her eyes “But I love you. I’ve missed you every single day for the last two months… And after what happened yesterday, I just… you nearly died right there in my arms and it scared me more than anything ever before in my life-”

Ashley squeezed the hand in hers. “Rach, kiss me. I love you too… I- kiss me…” She rasped out through her own unshed tears.

The doctor didn’t need to be asked twice. She practically pounced on the prone woman (careful not to jostle her injured abdomen) and kissed her with all she had, pouring all her feelings into it. It left them both reeling at the intensity of the connection.

Rachel ended up climbing on the bed, smiling down at the brunette, before leaning down and connecting their lips again, slowly and gently.

“It seems that it’s not only pregnant women who are swooning at her endless charms…” A voice said from the doorway a few minutes later.

The doctor sighed and dropped her head to Ashley’s shoulder, who glared at the interfering woman. “Please, leave. I will thank you later for suspending me mom, and for yelling at me and having no consideration for my feelings, Lily, but leave. _Now_.”

The three women in the doorway smirked in amusement. Ashley scowled at them and then groaned in defeat when Jill and Tyler poked their heads in the door as well to grin cheekily at her.

“Well, fine.” Lily said haughtily. “I just came to inform you that you’ll soon be the proud aunt of my cute, little baby boy, but since you insist on kicking us out…” She made a show of walking away, before Tim appeared in the doorway, dragging his giggling wife back.

Both women on the bed raised their heads at the news. “It’s a boy?” The brunette asked in wonder. “Really?”

“Really. And you have my permission to teach him all about football…” The redhead scrunched up her nose, making everyone laugh.

“Are you gonna start swooning too?” Tyler asked his cousin with a smirk “Since you’re pregnant and all, you are now within the group of ladies eligible for _swooning_ …”

“Tyler Bernhardt-Kwon, just because I’m pregnant, doesn’t mean I won’t beat you up if I so wish! Hey! Where are you- Get back here!!” She ran after her laughing cousin, with her husband following dejectedly, mumbling about crazy mood swings.

Rachel looked around with a raised eyebrow. “What is this about ‘swooning pregnant women’?”


	4. Doctor's Appointment: Rachel

_3 years later…_

 

Ashley was leaning over her partner’s desk to look at his computer. Montoya was showing her the results of the comparison analysis run on the sketches they’d gotten from the witnesses of the armed robbery they were investigating, when a light tug on her jeans made her look down. She was met with the grinning face of her three year old nephew.

“Uh… well, hello.” She said in an uncertain tone. “What are you doing here, little man?” The boy merely grinned and hugged her leg.

Montoya looked over his partner’s shoulder. “Dr. Jackson…”

The brunette glanced away from her nephew, raising an eyebrow at her approaching sister.

“Felix, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Lily?” The redhead gave him a pointed look, one hand on her hip, the other arm holding a giggling one year old Sofia. The man grinned sheepishly and nodded.

“I am getting this feeling that I will be babysitting today…” Ashley mumbled, glancing suspiciously at her sister, who merely grinned and batted her eyelashes.

“Pretty please? T.J. and I will be going to dinner with some of his friends and-”

“And why are you dropping the kids off _now_? You are aware that Rach has her OB appointment in two hours, right? And I’m working.” The brunette interrupted, arms crossed over her chest, eyebrow raised in suspicion.

The redhead grinned cheekily. “My husband has the afternoon off. _Why_ do you think I’m dropping the children off now?”

The inspector scowled, while Montoya kept his chuckles to himself and pretended to be engrossed with his computer.

“And the grandmothers? They have two of those in the city as well…” Lily gave her a pointed look. “Oh geez! Am I the only one _not_ getting laid lately?” She muttered, and that time her partner couldn’t contain his amusement, barking out a laugh before quickly clamping his hands over his mouth. She gave him a dirty look.

Sofia giggled from her mother’s arms before reaching out for her aunt with her small hands.

“Go away…” Ashley ordered her sister, taking the little girl and the childrens’ overnight bag from her.

The redhead grinned widely at the grumpy woman, kissing her and her children goodbye before sauntering out the door with a spring in her step.

The inspector scowled after her, until a small hand grabbed her nose and squeezed, followed by another round of giggles. “You are way too amused today…” The woman told her niece; only to have her nose squeezed again, the girl gaining a laugh from her aunt.

******

 

Rachel had been playing Solitaire on her phone when there was a slight commotion at the nurse’s desk. She looked up just as her lover walked in with Sofia on one arm, her phone pressed against an ear, while trying to prevent little Jake from stumbling over his untied shoelaces.

Their entrance garnered the attention of the other three couples in the waiting area and the doctor watched in amusement as the women all went into ‘swooning mode’ (as Lily had once put it during one of her rare friendly moods during her first pregnancy) and the men tried not to pay too much attention.

Ashley disconnected the call, just as Sofia made another grab for her nose and dissolved into a bout of giggles. The woman grinned, gently removing the small hand and guiding Jake toward his aunt.

The boy waved at Rachel and skipped over to her, the woman having to catch him at the last moment when he tripped over his shoelaces. “Easy there, Jake.” She laughed, hoisting him up onto her lap.

“Hi Auntie Rachel!” He grinned up at her, throwing his arms around her neck and kissing her loudly on the cheek.

The inspector plopped down next to her and kissed her on the cheek as well, giving her a sly grin. “Hey. Guess who will be staying with us tonight?” She asked, before Sofia grabbed her nose again. “Oh my God, Sofia!” She huffed out a laugh. “Why do you keep doing that?” The little redheaded girl giggled.

“I think she likes you…” Rachel offered, tickling her niece, who let out a shriek before dissolving into laughter. “But tell me, why are we babysitting your sister’s children?”

“Lily and T.J. are… well, _busy_ ; let’s put it that way… And so are my moms… Or so I was told…” The brunette replied with a frown.

“ _Busy_?” The dark haired woman queried, chuckling when her wife threw a pointed look her way. “Right, and why do you seem so unhappy with this arrangement? These kids are cute. Right, Jake?”

The boy grinned. “Mama say I’ma handsome… Like daddy! And, and daddy say Sofi is pwetty, like mama.”

“See?” The doctor grinned at her lover. “We get handsome Jake and pretty Sofia to keep us company tonight. So why are you grumpy?”

Ashley looked at her like it should be glaringly obvious. She opened her mouth to explain how it was unfair that everyone else in her family was getting laid, while she had to babysit, when she noticed how the three other couples were staring at them; specifically, how one of the men was looking at her wide eyed and shaking his head minutely.

That’s when she realized the potential trouble she could be in if she said what she really wanted to say.

“I just wanted to spend some quality time with the mother of my child… since I’ve been working too much in the last few days…” She offered instead, throwing in one of her signature charming smiles for good measure.

All the women swooned, one of them going as far as laying a hand over her heart and sighing dreamily. The men grinned amongst themselves, giving her very discrete thumbs-up.

“Jason, why can’t you be just as thoughtful to your pregnant wife?” One of the women asked, slapping her husband playfully on the arm.

The man looked at her strangely. “Exactly how am I not thoughtful? When I’m running out of the house in the middle of the night to get you Chinese food? Or maybe when I run a bath for you before you get home?”

The other men and Ashley snickered at his reply.

The woman raised an eyebrow. “That is not being thoughtful; that is your duty as the father of the child I’m carrying. Being thoughtful was what she did, because I _know_ that if it were you in her place in that conversation you would have said something about getting laid…”

That got another round of laughs, the other two women nodding in agreement.

The inspector noted once more that certain women did not have any filters while pregnant.

Rachel glanced back at her lover, suspicion written all over her features.

******

 

“Okay guys…” Ashley started, closing the door to the exam room and guiding her nephew to the chair in the corner. “Jake, up you go.” The boy grinned and clambered onto the chair. “Now, I’m gonna sit you down Sofia… And please give me my nose back, thank you…” The little redhead giggled and removed her small hand from the woman’s nose, only to squeeze her cheeks instead.

The inspector chuckled and gave a light poke to her niece’s stomach, causing another round of happy giggles.

Rachel and her doctor watched the proceedings with amused smiles on their faces.

“Motherhood is gonna come naturally to her…” The doctor commented, patting her patient and friend on the hand. “You got lucky with that one…”

“Hummm… She _is_ great with kids…” Rachel responded, smiling as her wife set their niece down on the chair in front of her brother and told the boy to keep a good hold on the girl and not let her fall down. When Jake nodded, the brunette grinned and ruffled his hair affectionately and walked back to the two women.

“I’m telling you Rachel… Half the women in this world, myself included, would kill to have husbands, partners or whomever as thoughtful and as attentive to their needs…” The doctor gushed, causing Ashley to grin proudly.

The dark haired woman raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Oh, I don’t know…” she teased. “Just ten minutes ago, she was ready to complain about her lack of sex life… In fact, if we didn’t have to babysit today, I’m sure she’d be trying to get into my pants as soon as we set foot in the door.”

Her lover frowned. “I would not! I told you, I merely wanted to spend a nice evening alone with you.”

“Save it, Ash. That charm may work on all those women out there, but I know you better than that. In fact, I might be the only pregnant woman not swooning at your brown eyes and killer smile.” Rachel gave her a pointed look, along with a knowing smirk.

The brunette pouted. “I’m sleeping on the couch, aren’t I?” Without even waiting for a reply, she turned to the doctor. “Is it normal that she doesn’t want to-”

“Ashley, I recommend you cease this line of questioning or you _will_ sleep on the couch.” Her wife warned, the amusement leaving her tone.

The inspector frowned. She stared at the other woman pensively, even after she turned away to focus on the doctor, who was pretending not to listen. Ashley realized that maybe there was a very specific reason for Rachel constantly pushing her away when she tried to initiate anything even remotely intimate.

She carefully took the woman’s hand in hers, running her thumb gently over the back. Rachel didn’t look back at her, but lightly squeezed the hand in hers.

******

 

Complete and utter shock.

The world seemed to have tilted upside down and sideways.

Ashley stared at the monitor with her mouth hanging unattractively open.

Rachel wasn’t faring much better, blinking owlishly at her doctor and friend.

The doctor just sat and waited for the news to set in.

“T-t-twins?!” The brunette squeaked out eventually. “As- as in _TWO_ babies?!”

“Yes, that is the general definition…” The doctor grinned at her shell shocked patient and her wife. “Congratulations!”

“I- I think I need to sit down…” The inspector mumbled reaching back blindly for the stool nearby and sitting down heavily.

“I’ll give you two a few minutes to take it all in.” The woman snapped her gloves off and stood up. “I’ll be back shortly.” She excused herself and left the room, leaving the couple still staring dumbfounded at the image frozen on the monitor.

Rachel closed her eyes and exhaled slowly; now those were news, alright. She opened her eyes again to look at her speechless lover. She stared in awe as a small smile formed on her lips before slowly, but surely, widening into a full-blown grin, her eyes shinning brightly with unshed tears of joy.

“My God… Twins…” Came the hushed voice, before she turned to look at the dark haired woman smiling up at her. “I don’t even know what else to say besides that…”

“Yeah, can’t help you with that either…” Rachel whispered back. “Come here. I really want to kiss you right now.” She demanded tugging on the hand clasped in hers.

Ashley grinned and did as told. “I love you…” She murmured against the woman’s lips before closing the gap and kissing her softly.

******

 

_That evening…_

 

“What do you mean it’s _too late_ for your children to go to bed?” Ashley asked, while loading the dishwasher. “Sofia has been asleep for two hours already… Well, Jake’s older is he not? And he was waiting for you to call to say goodnight- … I’m not making up excuses, Lily.” She huffed in amusement.

Rachel watched from the doorway as the brunette spoke on the phone with her sister. When her lover closed the dishwasher and leaned down to select the program, she moved into the kitchen.

“Uh, hello? You left _your_ kids in _my_ care; _your_ house rules don’t apply _here_ … Well, I don’t rightly care whether you like it or not; I’m their aunt, which means I will spoil them… You should have checked the parenting handbook; there’s a section specifically dedicated to explaining how the cool aunts will spoil your kids – that’s why they are the _cool_ aunts.” She straightened back up, an amused chuckle alerting her to Rachel’s presence just before arms circled her waist and settled on her hips.

“Besides, you left them with me to spend _quality time_ with _your husband_ , thus robbing me of _my quality time_ with _my wife_. So do not argue with me about what time the kids went to bed…” She paused, listening to her sister. “Oh, it was okay. Baby is fine, Rachel is fine. We’ll go back in a few weeks and then we’ll find out whether you’ll be having a niece or a nephew… … I’ll drop them off tomorrow morning before heading to work… Yeah, of course we’re going to the family dinner this weekend. Love you too, Lil. Bye.” She hung up and shook her head.

“You didn’t tell her…?” The doctor asked, chin resting on her wife’s shoulder.

The brunette clasped a hand over the one’s crossed over her abdomen. “I figured we’d tell them this weekend, since everyone will be there… It should make for an interesting evening…”

They slipped into a comfortable silence after that, simply enjoying the closeness and comfort brought by the other’s presence.

Ashley turned in the embrace and leaned in to kiss the other woman. She pulled back, raising a hand to tuck in a few strands of hair behind the doctor’s ear, never breaking eye contact.

“Tell me…” She prompted gently, hand dropping to Rachel’s neck, thumb tracing her jaw line.

“Ash…” The dark haired woman looked away, only to have a hand grip her chin tenderly and turn her back to face the woman she loved.

“Just tell me… If it’s really just because you’re not in the mood I will drop it… And find some other way to… _entertain_ myself…” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, smiling when her lover chuckled and shook her head.

“You’re incorrigible…” She whispered lovingly, bumping their foreheads together. Rachel sighed, tightening her grip on Ashley’s waist. “My- My mother died from a miscarriage… did I ever tell you that? She actually had two miscarriages… I don’t remember the first one, I was too young; but the second one… My dad always said that my mom worked too much; said that the stress of her job was too much…” She closed her eyes and dropped her head to her wife’s shoulder. “I don’t know… I’m worried that- … and it being my first pregnancy means the risk is higher… I’m a doctor, I’ve seen my fair share of miscarriages at the hospital…”

“Hey…” Ashley wrapped her arms around the woman, caressing her back soothingly “Being a doctor, you also know that you’re a perfectly healthy woman; you don’t smoke, you’ve forbidden alcohol in the house… which I’m still not entirely sure I agree with, but anyways…” That earned her a small smile. “You’ve cut back on your hours at the hospital… If anything’s causing you stress, it would be me and my job…”

“Ash, no.” The doctor quickly interrupted, raising her head. “I know how much your job means to you, I can’t ask you to-”

“You _can_. I know you worry about me constantly and I want you to promise me right now, that if you think it’s too much, just tell me to stay home during weekends or to come home earlier. These are _our_ kids; their and their mother’s well-being is my responsibility too.”

She didn’t think it was possible but Rachel might have just fallen a little bit more in love with her wife. She leaned in and kissed her deeply.

“You’d really do that? If I tell you to take a weekend off-”

“I’ll take the weekend off. All you have to do is ask. And slap me over the head if I say something to the contrary.”

“I can do _that_.” The doctor smirked, seeing her lover’s unamused expression.

******

 

They retired to their bedroom a few minutes later.

Rachel settled onto the bed, leaning back against the headboard, and waited for her lover to finish her nightly rituals in the bathroom.

She’d just picked the book she was currently reading off the bedside table, when the brunette stuck her head out the bathroom. “You know what just occurred to me?” She straightened and pointed her toothbrush at the woman on the bed. “You totally swooned when I told you I’d take the weekends off if you asked me to.” She grinned confidently.

The doctor raised an eyebrow. Ashley stuck her toothbrush back in her mouth and continued brushing her teeth, waiting for a response.

Rachel smirked and returned her focus to her book. “I already told you; I don’t swoon – I know all the tricks you use on those other helpless pregnant women… and they don’t work on me.”

The inspector furrowed her brow in suspicion. She disappeared back into the bathroom, coming out again a minute later. She stopped at the foot of the bed to look at her wife.

The smirk was still firmly in place.

Ashley was not convinced about the woman’s immunity against her charms and went about proving just that.

She pulled the covers off the doctor, all the way to the foot of the bed, before crawling on hands and knees up to her.

Rachel raised an eyebrow in amusement, when the book was grabbed out of her hands and dropped unceremoniously on the floor. She then shrieked in surprise when the brunette pulled her down by the legs to lie flat on the bed.

“What are you doing?” She chocked out between her laughter.

Her lover smirked, moving up to hover over the prone woman and then swooping down to kiss her before she could utter a word.

The dark haired woman gasped for air when they separated. She searched out the brunette’s eyes, gazing intently down at her, taking her in. She felt her body respond to the penetrating stare, her breath hitching when she felt a hand slide down her side and then disappear under her shirt to rest on her stomach.

Ashley scooted down slowly, never breaking away from their connected gazes, until she was eye level with the baby bump. She then pulled up her wife’s shirt, stopping just below her heaving chest.

Rachel watched entranced as soft lips connected with her heated skin, her eyes slipping closed at the sensations spreading out through her body from the simple contact.

She almost didn’t register as those lips upturned into a grin. “Hi there babies.” Came the quiet words, making her open her eyes again to look down at her lover. “I just wanted to let you know that I love you…” The doctor smiled, reaching out a hand to run it through short brown locks. “And I totally just made your mama swoon…”

Rachel gaped at the smirking woman. A growl tore from her throat and she grabbed her wife by her T-shirt and pulled her up. “You _better_ finish what you started or I _swear_ I’ll be the one making you swoon by hitting you over the head with one of my medical journals…”

“Oh really?” Ashley asked with an eyebrow raised in challenge.

Rachel rolled them over. “ _Really_ …” She hissed, leaning down to deliver a scorching kiss that had the brunette surrendering in submission before she knew what had happened.

 


End file.
